Design, development, and evaluation of visual aids for communicating prescription drug instructions to nonliterate patients in rural Cameroon

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Abstract

In this study, culturally sensitive visual aids designed to help convey drug information to nonliterat female adults who had a prescription for a solid oral dosage form of antibiotic medications were developed and evaluated. The researchers concetualized the educational messages while a local artist produced the visual aids.

Seventy-eight female ambulatory patients weer evaluated for comprehension and compliance with antibiotic prescription instrucitons. The study was conductd in three health centers in Cameroon, West Africa and followed a pre-test, post-test, and follow-up format for three groups: two experimental, and one control. All participants were randomly assigned to either experimental or control groups, 26 patients to each group. Subjects in the experimental groups received visual aids alone or visual aids plus an Advanced Organizer. A comparison of the three groups showed that subject in the expermental groups scored significantly higher than the control group in both the comprehension and compliance measures.

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